Lucretia Newman Coleman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucretia Newman Coleman
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1890
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Lucretia Howe Newman
1856 Dresden, Ontario, Canada
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| Died | July 31, 1948 (aged 91–92) |
| Occupation | Writer, journalist |
| Years active | 1883–1894 |
Lucretia Newman Coleman (born 1856 – died 1948) was an amazing African-American writer. She was born in Canada. Her father had been a slave who escaped to freedom. Lucretia wrote many pieces in the late 1800s. Other writers and newspapers of her time praised her work.
Her Early Life
Lucretia Howe Newman was born in Dresden, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were Nancy D. (Brown) and William P. Newman. Her father had escaped slavery in Virginia. He later became a Baptist minister. He studied at Oberlin College.
After a law called the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 passed, her family moved to Ontario, Canada. This law made it harder for escaped slaves to be safe in the United States. Lucretia was born in Canada around 1854.
In 1859, her family of six traveled to Haiti and then Jamaica. They were looking for a new place to live. By 1863, they returned to the United States. They settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father continued his work as a minister. Sadly, he died in 1866 during a cholera outbreak.
After her father's death, Lucretia's family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin in 1867. In 1872, Lucretia started studying science at Lawrence University. She was one of the first black students there. She studied for two years but did not get a degree. The family left Appleton in 1876.
A Life of Writing
After college, Lucretia worked as a music teacher. She also worked in a store. In 1883, she became a secretary and bookkeeper for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. That same year, her first known story, "Lucille of Montana," was published. It was very popular.
In 1884, Lucretia married Robert J. Coleman in Des Moines, Iowa. They soon moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their daughter, Alberta Roberta, was born in 1886.
Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Lucretia published many articles. Her writings appeared in magazines like the A.M.E. Church Review. Black newspapers and journals praised her work. They said her writing was deep and thoughtful.
Her novel, Poor Ben: A Story of Real Life, came out in 1890. It was also highly praised by people at the time. In 1894, she became a vice president of the Colored Authors' Association.
By the 1920s, Lucretia and her daughter lived in Chicago. She worked as a dressmaker. Lucretia Newman Coleman passed away in 1948 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is buried there at Woodlawn Cemetery.
